Stacking purge-bin

ABSTRACT

Apparatus and methods for a stacking purge-bin (“SPB”) are provided. The SPB may be configured to rotate. The SPB may include a plurality of receiving sections. One or more tangible items retracted by the SSK may be stored in each receiving section. Rotating the SPB between each retraction may prevent tangible items from two consecutive retractions from being stored in a single receiving section. Preventing tangible items from two consecutive retractions from being stored in a single receiving section may allow each tangible item to be associated with transaction information corresponding to a retraction. The SPB may store separators. A separator may be inserted between tangible items received from two consecutive retractions. Separating between tangible items received from two consecutive retractions may allow each tangible item to be associated with transaction information corresponding to a retraction. Transaction information associated with a retraction may be marked on the separator.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

[00] This application is a divisional of U.S. application Ser. No.13/897,530 filed on May 20, 2013, which is hereby incorporated byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF TECHNOLOGY

Aspects of the invention relate to reducing costs associated withautomated teller machine (“ATM”) mis-dispense claims.

BACKGROUND

ATMs provide banking customers an ability to access bank accountinformation, deposit funds and withdraw cash. ATMs may often obviate theneed for a banking customer to consult with a human clerk. Additionally,ATMs may be located in a variety of diverse locations. These locationsmay be remote from banking centers. For example, ATMs may be placed onstreet corners, in convenience stores, supermarkets or sports arenas.

In a typical ATM transaction, the customer may submit a request for awithdrawal of an amount of cash. The ATM may determine whether thecustomer has a bank account balance corresponding to, at least, a valueof the requested cash. If the customer has a sufficient bank accountbalance, the ATM may dispense the requested amount of cash.

The ATM may present the requested amount of cash to the customer. If thecustomer does not collect all of the dispensed cash, the ATM may beconfigured to retract the uncollected cash. The ATM may be configured towait for an expiration of a “time out” period before retracting cash.

An ATM customer may not retrieve all, or a portion of, dispensed cash asa result of an ATM malfunction. For example, the customer may submit arequest for $80.00 in twenty-dollar notes and the ATM may erroneouslydispense $40.00 in ten-dollar notes. As a further example, the ATM maynot provide sufficient time for the customer to become aware that thecash has been dispensed. The ATM may retract cash before the customerhas time to collect dispensed cash.

In response to a retraction of cash by the ATM, a customer may submit amis-dispense claim. The customer may submit the mis-dispense claim to anoperator of the ATM. The customer may submit the mis-dispense claim toan entity responsible for managing a bank account of the customer.

The customer may request a credit for uncollected cash retracted by theATM. The customer may request that, because cash was retracted by theATM, the account of the customer should not be debited. The customer mayallege that none of a requested amount of cash, or a portion of arequested amount of cash, was collected by the customer.

A wide variety of ATM locations and lack of close supervision at an ATMincreases a risk that a customer may submit an unwarranted mis-dispenseclaim. For example, the customer may intentionally collect only aportion of dispensed cash. The customer may then submit a mis-dispenseclaim alleging not to have collected any of the dispensed cash.Unwarranted mis-dispense claim have become so prevalent that some ATMoperators have disabled a cash retraction feature of ATMs.

It would be desirable to provide a solution that collates cash retractedby an ATM following an unsuccessful customer withdrawal. Examination ofthe collated cash may provide information useful in a processing ofmis-dispense claims and fraud research. For example, the examination mayprovide details such as denomination, number of bills retracted and atransaction identifier associated with the retraction. Examining ofcollated cash may allow the examined cash to be associated with acustomer or customer account.

Additionally, a cost of operating an ATM or a network of ATMs is arequirement to replenish a cash supply of an ATM. Typically, ATMs may bereplenished with cash between bi-weekly to per-day. Some ATMs in busylocations must be replenished twice a day. ATM operators may bereluctant to stock ATMs with additional cash because until the cash isdispensed from the ATM the cash is idling, increasing an opportunitycost of the cash. On the other hand, restricting the amount of cash thatmay be withdrawn by a customer may inconvenience and irritate thecustomer. Armored personnel and services are typically employed todeliver cash to an ATM, further increasing the cost of replenishing thecash supply of an ATM.

An examination of cash dispensed or retracted by an ATM may indicatethat a cash inventory of the ATM is not being efficiently utilized.Obtaining accurate information relating to cash dispensing or retractingmay allow an ATM operator to better manage a cash inventory of an ATM ornetwork of ATMs.

For example, an ability to examine cash prior to dispensing the cash mayverify that genuine notes of the correct denomination are beingdispensed from the ATM. The examination may reduce a cost of dispensingcounterfeit notes, non-currency items or incorrect denominations thatmay have been erroneously loaded into the ATM. Detection of an erroneousloading of cash into the ATM may identify a human error or a processbreakdown related to cash inventory.

Therefore, it would be desirable to obtain detail associated with cashdispensed or retracted from an ATM. It would be desirable to obtain atransaction detail associated with cash dispensed or retracted from anATM. The transaction detail may supply information used in managing cashsupplied to an ATM.

Therefore, it would be desirable to provide apparatus and methods for astacking purge-bin.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent uponconsideration of the following detailed description, taken inconjunction with the accompanying drawings, in which like referencecharacters refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

FIG. 1 shows an illustrative apparatus in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 2 shows an illustrative apparatus in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 3 shows an illustrative arrangement in accordance with principlesof the invention;

FIG. 4 shows an illustrative apparatus in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 5 shows an illustrative apparatus in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 6 shows an illustrative arrangement in accordance with principlesof the invention;

FIG. 7 shows illustrative apparatus in accordance with principles of theinvention;

FIG. 8 shows an illustrative process in accordance with principles ofthe invention;

FIG. 9 shows an illustrative process in accordance with principles ofthe invention; and

FIG. 10 shows an illustrative process in accordance with principles ofthe invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

Apparatus and methods for a stacking purge-bin (“SPB”) are provided.Apparatus and methods may be applied to cash dispensing equipmentincluding ATMs, currency recyclers and self-checkout machines located atretail merchants. Apparatus and methods may be applicable to dispensingof non-cash items—i.e., airport kiosks, self-serve movie theaterkiosks—and any suitable self-service kiosk that dispenses or retracts atangible item. The tangible item may include currency, lottery tickets,transportation tickets, boarding passes or any tangible item dispensedby a SSK.

Apparatus for an anti-fraud system for a self-service kiosk (“SSK”) areprovided. The SSK may be an ATM. The ATM may include a dispenser. Thedispenser may be configured to present a tangible item to a customer.The dispenser may present the tangible item to the customer in responseto a request submitted by the customer. The dispenser may be configuredto retract the tangible item. The dispenser may be configured to retractthe tangible item after the tangible item is presented to the customer.The dispenser may be configured to retract the tangible item afterexpiration of a “time out” period. The time out period may be anysuitable period of time such as five seconds, ten seconds, fifteenseconds, one minute or five minutes.

The ATM may include an acceptor. The acceptor may be configured toreceive a deposit from the customer. The deposit may include anysuitable tangible item. For example, the deposit may include cash,checks, or coins.

The ATM may include a purge-bin. The purge-bin may store one or moretangible items retracted by a dispenser. The tangible item may betransferred from the dispenser to the purge-bin using a feeder network.The feeder network may be configured to transfer one or more tangibleitems between components of the ATM. The purge-bin may store a tangibleitem deposited at the ATM. The tangible item may be transferred from theacceptor to the purge-bin using the feeder network. The feeder networkmay position a tangible item in the purge-bin or other suitable ATMcomponent.

The ATM may include a storage-bin. The storage-bin may store one or moreseparators. A separator may be a tangible item. The feeder network maybe configured to extract a separator from the storage-bin. The feedernetwork may be configured to transfer the separator to a component ofthe ATM. For example, the feeder network may transfer a separator fromthe storage-bin to the purge-bin. The feeder network may position theseparator in the purge-bin.

The ATM may include a printer. The printer may be configured to printinformation on a separator. The separator may be transferred to theprinter. The printer may be configured to print information on theseparator before the separator is extracted from the storage-bin. Theseparator may be transferred from the printer to the purge-bin. Theseparator may be transferred using the feeder network.

The ATM may position the separator. The ATM may position the separatorusing the feeder network. The ATM may position the separator afterprinting information on the separator. Information may be printed on theseparator after the separator is positioned by the feeder network. Theseparator may be positioned using the feeder network.

The separator may be positioned adjacent to a plurality of bills. Theplurality of bills may be stored in the purge-bin. For example, thepurge-bin may be configured to receive a plurality of bills. Theplurality of bills may include bills retracted by the dispenser.Retracted bills may be transferred from the dispenser to the purge-bin.The feeder network may transfer retracted bills to the purge-bin.

The feeder network may be configured to position the plurality of bills.The plurality of bills may be positioned in the purge-bin. The feedernetwork may be configured to position a separator. The separator may bepositioned in the purge-bin. The separator may be positioned in thepurge-bin adjacent to the plurality of bills. The separator may bepositioned above the bills. The separator may be positioned below thebills. The separator may be positioned in the purge-bin afterinformation is printed on the separator. A position of the separator inthe purge-bin may collate contents of the purge-bin.

The information printed on the separator may correspond to one or moreactions of the ATM. Illustrative actions that may be performed by an ATMare shown below in Table 1.

TABLE 1 Illustrative actions performed by an ATM Illustrative ActionsPerformed by an ATM Authenticate customer Access customer accountinformation Dispense cash Receive deposit from a customer Validatedeposit Retract cash Print receipt Validate dispensed cash Validateretracted cash Transfer retracted cash to purge-bin Weigh cash

The information printed on the separator may associate bills adjacent tothe separator with one or more actions performed by the ATM. Theinformation printed on the separator may associate bills positionedadjacent to the separator with a customer or a customer account. Theinformation printed on the separator may indicate if the separator isassociated with tangible items positioned above or below the separator.

When one or more tangible items stored in the purge-bin are removed fromthe purge-bin, the removed items may be examined. Examining itemsremoved from the purge-bin may provide details about the removed itemssuch as denomination, authenticity, number of items retracted and atransaction identifier. The details may be associated with theinformation printed on the separator.

A result of the examination may be associated with the informationprinted on the separator. For example, the information printed on theseparator may indicate that bills stored in the purge-bin below a firstseparator and above a second separator are all associated with a singleretraction. The bills may be extracted from the purge-bin and examined.

The examination may determine a first value of the bills. The firstvalue may be associated with a transaction identifier printed on thefirst separator. The transaction identifier may be linked to a customeraccount or customer. The transaction identifier may correspond to one ormore actions performed by the ATM.

The transaction identifier may correspond to a withdrawal request. Basedon a difference between a first value of bills requested by the customerin the withdrawal request and a second value of the retracted billsstored in the purge-bin, an entity may determine an amount of cashcollected by the customer prior to the retraction. The amount of cashmay determine an amount of cash that may be refunded to the customer inresponse to a mis-dispense claim.

A purge-bin of the ATM may include a floor. The floor may support one ormore tangible items stored in the purge-bin. The purge-bin may rotate.The floor may rotate. The floor and/or purge-bin (collectivelyhereinafter “purge-bin”) may rotate about an axis. The purge-bin mayrotate about the axis in response to a retraction of a tangible item.

The purge-bin may include a bill receiving section. The purge-bin mayinclude a first bill receiving section. The first bill receiving sectionmay receive a first set of bills. The first set of bills may be receivedafter a retraction. The retraction may be a first retraction.

A rotation of the purge-bin may align the first bill receiving sectionwith the feeder network. When the first bill receiving section isaligned with the feeder network, the feeder network may transfer a firsttangible item into the first bill receiving section. The first billreceiving section may store the first set of bills.

The purge-bin may include a second bill receiving section. The secondbill receiving section may be perpendicular to the first bill receivingsection. The second bill receiving section may be oriented at anysuitable angle to the first bill receiving section. The second billreceiving section may receive a second set of bills. The second set ofbills may be received after a retraction. The retraction may be a secondretraction.

A rotation of the purge-bin and/or floor of the purge-bin may align thesecond bill receiving section with the feeder network. When the secondbill receiving section is aligned with the feeder network, the feedernetwork may transfer a second tangible item into the second billreceiving section. The second tangible item may be a second set ofbills. The second bill receiving section may store the second set ofbills.

The second bill receiving section may be configured to position thesecond set of bills. The second set of bills may be positionedperpendicular to the first set of bills. Storing the first set of billsin the first bill receiving section and the second set of bills in thesecond receiving section may collate the bills stored in the purge-bin.

The ATM may associate transaction information with each rotation of thepurge-bin. The transaction information may include one or more actionsperformed by the ATM. Illustrative actions are shown above in FIG. 1.The transaction information may be associated with a rotation number.The rotation number may correspond to a total number of rotations of thepurge-bin. A relationship between the transaction information andassociated rotation number may be logged by the ATM.

The purge-bin may store a plurality of sets of bills. Each of the setsof bills may be positioned perpendicular to each other. The plurality ofsets of bills may be removed from the purge-bin. Each set of bills maycorrespond to a rotation number. The rotation number may link the set ofbills to logged transaction information associated with the set ofbills.

The set of bills may be examined. The set of bills may be examined afterbeing removed from the purge-bin. The examination may includedetermining a value of the set of bills. The examination may includedetermining an authenticity of each bill included in the set of bills.The value may be associated with the transaction information. Based onthe transaction information, the value of the set of bills may beassociated with an action of the ATM. Based on the transactioninformation, the value of the set of bills may be associated with acustomer or customer account.

Based on the value and customer account associated with the value, anentity may determine a refund amount for a mis-dispense claim submittedby the customer. For example, a customer may submit a mis-dispense claimalleging that an in response to a request for $200.00, an ATM onlydispensed $50.00. An ATM operator may determine that the customer'srequest is associated with a purge-bin rotation number. The ATM operatormay further determine that the purge-bin rotation number is associatedwith a set of bills valued at $150.00. Based on the informationassociated with the rotation number, the ATM operator may approve therefund amount requested in the customer's mis-dispense claim.

Methods for stacking items in a purge-bin are provided. The methods maybe performed by an apparatus. The apparatus may include a non-transitorycomputer readable medium. The non-transitory computer readable mediummay include computer readable program code embodied therein. Theapparatus may include a processor. The processor may be configured toexecute the computer readable program code.

The purge-bin may be included in any suitable self-service kiosk(“SSK”). The SSK may be an ATM. The SSK may include a dispenser. Thedispenser may present one or more tangible items to a customer. Thedispenser may present the one or more tangible items to the customer inresponse to a request submitted by the customer. The customer maycollect a number of the presented tangible items. The uncollectedportion of tangible items may be retracted by the SSK.

The methods may include retracting a plurality of tangible items. Thetangible item may be a bill, cash, check, U.S. Treasury Note or anysuitable tangible item. The SSK may retract a coin. The tangible itemsmay include a plurality of bills. A dispenser may retract one or more ofthe bills. The bills may be retracted after expiration of a time-outperiod. The retracted bills may have been previously presented to acustomer via an SSK dispenser.

For example, at an SSK, a customer may purchase three lottery tickets.The SSK may dispense three lottery tickets. The customer may collect oneof the three dispensed lottery tickets. The SSK may retract the twouncollected lottery tickets.

The SSK may include a purge-bin. The dispenser may be coupled to thepurge-bin. The dispenser and purge-bin may be coupled via a feedernetwork. The feeder network may be configured to transfer one or moretangible items within the ATM. The feeder network may transfer atangible item from the dispenser to the purge-bin. The purge-bin maystore one or more tangible items. The purge-bin may store one or moreretracted tangible items. Tangible items stored in the purge-bin may bestacked within the purge-bin. The stacking may collate the tangibleitems stored in the purge-bin.

The SSK may generate a separator. The separator may be a tangible item.The separator may be constructed of materials such as cardboard, paper,metal or any other suitable material. Generating the separator mayinclude printing information on the separator. The information mayinclude transaction information. The transaction information may includecustomer account information. The information may include one or moreactions performed by the SSK. Illustrative actions performed by an SSKare shown above in table 1. Generating the separator may includeextracting the separator from a storage-bin.

The separator may be stored in the purge-bin. The separator may beinserted adjacent to a plurality of bills stored in the purge-bin. Theseparator may be stored above a plurality of tangible items previouslystored in the purge-bin. The plurality of tangible items may be storedin the purge-bin after the separator is inserted into the purge-bin.

Generating the separator may include relating information. The SSK mayalso log a transaction identifier corresponding to one or more actionsperformed by the SSK. The transaction identifier may correspond to adispensing of a plurality of tangible items. The relating may includeestablishing a link between two or more actions performed by a SSK.

For example, a SSK may perform a dispensing in response to a customerrequest to withdraw an amount of currency from an account of thecustomer. The dispensing may be associated with first a time and date.After the dispensing, the SSK may retract any uncollected cash. The SSKmay log a second time and date of the retracting.

A temporal relationship between the first time of dispensing and thesecond time of retracting may link the retracting and the dispensing.The temporal relationship may include a dispensing and retracting thatoccur within a threshold time period.

In some embodiments, a shared transaction identifier may link theretracting and the dispensing. The shared transaction identifier mayinclude a SSK session ID. The session ID may link one or more actionsperformed by the SSK. The session ID may link one or more SSK actionsinitiated with a set of customer credentials.

The SSK may mark the separator. The SSK may mark the separator byprinting information on the separator. The separator may be marked byapplying an ultraviolet identifier to the separator. The separator maybe marked using an embosser. The separator may be marked in any suitablefashion. A marked separator may be positioned in the purge-bin adjacentto a retracted tangible item. The position of the marked separator mayassociate the retracted tangible item with information included in themark applied to the separator.

Information marked on the separator may include transaction information.The mark applied to the separator may include transaction information.The mark applied to the separator may include related transactioninformation. For example, the mark may include a first transactionidentifier corresponding to a dispensing and a second transactionidentifier corresponding to a retracting that is temporally linked tothe dispensing. The mark may include a session ID, a time, date or anysuitable information.

A position of the marked separator in a purge-bin may associate aretracted tangible item with transaction information included in themark applied to the separator. Based on an association between thetransaction information and the retracted tangible item, an entity maydetermine a value of one or more dispensed tangible items collected by acustomer from a SSK.

For example, the entity may examine the retracted tangible item storedadjacent to the separator. Examination of a tangible item may providedetails such as denomination, number of items retracted and atransaction identifier associated with the retraction or deposit. Avalidator may be configured to perform one or more examination routines.

The position of the separator in a purge-bin may link the transactioninformation marked on the separator to the retracted tangible itemstored in the purge-bin. The transaction information marked on theseparator may include a value of one or more tangible items dispensed tothe customer. A difference between a first value of the dispensedtangible items and a second value of the retracted tangible items maycorrespond to a third value of tangible items collected by the customer.Based on the third value of tangible items collected by the customer,the entity may deny a mis-dispense claim that requests a refund amountgreater than the third value.

A first plurality of tangible items may be stored in a purge-bin. Thefirst plurality of tangible items may be stored in the purge-bin afterbeing retracted by a SSK. The SSK may generate a first separator. TheSSK may generate the first separator in response to the retracting ofthe first plurality of tangible items. The first separator may be markedwith first transaction information. The first transaction informationmay include a first session ID or any suitable transaction information.

The first separator may be inserted above the first plurality oftangible items. A position of the first separator above the firstplurality of tangible items may associate the first separator andinformation marked on the first separator with the first plurality oftangible items.

The SSK may retract a second plurality of tangible items. The secondplurality of tangible items may be stored in the purge-bin adjacent tothe first separator. The second plurality of tangible items may bestored above the first separator.

The SSK may generate a second separator. The SSK may generate the secondseparator in response to the retracting of the second plurality oftangible items. The second separator may be marked with secondtransaction information. The second transaction information may includea second session ID or any suitable transaction information. The secondseparator may be inserted above the second plurality of tangible items.

A position of the second separator above the second plurality oftangible items may associate the second separator and information markedon the second separator with the second plurality of tangible items.

The SSK may be configured to position the first plurality of bills. TheSSK may position the first plurality of bills by rotating at least aportion of the purge-bin. The SSK may be configured to position thesecond plurality of bills. The SSK may position the second plurality ofbills by rotating at least a portion of the purge-bin.

The second plurality of bills may be positioned on top of the firstplurality of bills. The second plurality of bills may be positionedadjacent to the first plurality of bills. The second plurality of billsmay be positioned perpendicular to the first plurality of bills. Thesecond plurality of bills may be positioned at a ninety degree angle orany suitable angle relative to the first plurality of bills.

The purge-bin may be removable from the SSK. Removal of the purge-binfrom the SSK may not disturb a positioning of the first plurality oftangible items relative to the second plurality of tangible items.Removal of the purge-bin from the SSK may not disturb a positioning ofthe first separator relative to the second separator. Transporting thepurge-bin may not disturb a positioning of the first separator relativeto the second separator.

The methods may include transferring contents of the purge-bin to avalidator. The validator may be configured to examine a tangible item.The tangible item may be any suitable tangible item. For example, thetangible item may include currency, bank notes, event tickets,transportation tickets, lottery tickets and airline boarding passes.

Examination of a tangible item may provide details such as denomination,number of items retracted and a transaction identifier associated with aretraction or deposit. A validator may be configured to perform one ormore examination routines.

The validator may determine a value of contents stored in the purge bin.The contents may include one or more tangible items. The value may bethe value of the plurality of tangible items positioned below the firstseparator. The plurality of bills may be bills positioned below thesecond separator. A result of the examination may be associated with aseparator. A result of the examination may be associated with tangibleitems stored in the purge-bin. The tangible items stored in thepurge-bin may correspond to the separator.

The methods may include generating a fraud record. The fraud record maybe generated based on a value of the contents of the purge-bin. Thefraud record may be based on a transaction identifier associated withone or more tangible items stored in the purge-bin. The transactionidentifier may be printed on a separator.

The methods may include transmitting the fraud record. The fraud recordmay be transmitted to a customer. The fraud record may be transmitted toa financial institution. The fraud record may be transmitted to a frauddetection unit of the financial institution. The fraud record may betransmitted in response to receiving a claim. The claim may be receivedby an entity. The entity may service one or more accounts of a customer.The entity may be an operator of a SSK. The claim may be transmitted bythe customer. The claim may be a mis-dispense claim.

Methods for storing bills in a purge-bin of an ATM are provided. The ATMmay include a dispenser. The dispenser may be configured to dispense aplurality of bills. The dispenser may be configured to retract aplurality of bills.

In response to the retraction, the methods may include generating aseparator record. The separator record may be generated by an ATM. Theseparator record may include a date. The separator record may includetransaction information. The transaction information may include a date,time, a transaction identifier, a session ID or any suitable transactioninformation. The separator record may be stored in a database. Thedatabase may reside in a SSK. The database may reside at a locationremote from the SSK. The SSK may transmit the separator record to theremote location.

The ATM may include a purge-bin. The purge-bin may include one or moreseparator tabs. A separator tab may form a partition inside thepurge-bin. The partition may separate tangible items stored in thepurge-bin. A separator tab may distinguish a first plurality ofretracted bills stored in the purge-bin from a second plurality ofretracted bills stored in the purge-bin.

The methods may include associating a separator record with a separatortab. The purge-bin may hold a first plurality of bills. The purge-binmay hold a second plurality of bills. In the purge-bin, the separatortab may separate the first plurality of bills from the second pluralityof bills.

The separator tab may be biased by one or more biasing members. Abiasing member may include a spring. A latch may maintain the separatortab in a first position relative to the purge-bin. When the tab is inthe first position, a tangible item inserted into the purge-bin may passthe tab. In the first position, the tab may not obstruct movement of thetangible inside the purge-bin.

In response to an insertion of a tangible item into the purge-bin, anATM may be configured to release the latch. The release of the latch mayallow the biasing member to move the tab into a second position relativeto the purge-bin. In the second position, the tab may obstruct movementof a tangible item stored in the purge-bin. In the second position, thetab may form a partition that separates a first tangible item from asecond tangible item. In the second position, the tab may form apartition that separates a first plurality of tangible items from asecond plurality of tangible items. The first plurality of tangibleitems may be associated with a first customer. The second plurality oftangible items may be associated with a second customer.

For example, a SSK may log a positioning of a separator tab. A releaseof the latch may generate an electronic signal. The electronic signalmay correspond to a separator tab. The electronic signal may correspondto one of a plurality of separator tabs. Based on the electronic signal,a SSK may identify the positioned separator tab. The identifiedseparator tab may be associated with a separator record. The separatorrecord may be generated in response to a retraction. The latch may bereleased in response to the retraction. The identified separator tab maybe associated with the separator record based on a temporal proximity ofthe release to the retraction or other action performed by the SSK.

The methods may include associating the separator record with an accountof a customer. The separator record may be associated with the accountbased on transaction information such as a transaction identifierincluded in the separator record.

The methods may include extracting a plurality of tangible items fromthe purge-bin. The plurality of tangible items may be a plurality ofbills. The methods may include resetting a separator tab. The extractingmay include resetting a separator tab. The reset separator tab may beassociated with a separator record. The associated separator record maycorrespond to a separator record generated within a temporal proximityof a release of the reset separator tab. The associated separator recordmay include transaction information identifying a customer or customeraccount.

A resetting of the separator tab may generate an electronic signal. Theelectronic signal may correspond to the separator tab. The electronicsignal may identify the separator tab. Based on the electronic signal,the separator record associated with the reset separator tab may beidentified.

The methods may include determining a value of a plurality of tangibleitems stored within a partition of the purge-bin. The methods mayinclude associating the value with the separator tab that defines thepartition. The separator tab that defines the partition may be a resetseparator tab. The separator tab that defines the partition may beidentified based on a signal transmitted when the separator tab isreset.

The methods may include associating the value with a separator recordcorresponding to the separator tab that defines the partition. Themethods may include appending the value to the separator record. Themethods may include transmitting the value to a remote location. Thevalue may be associated with the separator record based on anidentification of the reset separator tab.

The methods may include identifying a dispensed value. The dispensedvalue may be an amount of money dispensed by an ATM in response to acustomer request. The dispensed amount may be identified based ontransaction information included in the separator record.

For example, the separator record may include a SSK session ID. In adatabase, the session ID may be associated a dispensing of an amount ofcash and a retracting of cash. The methods may include crediting thevalue to a customer account. The crediting may correspond to cashdispensed by a SSK to a customer and uncollected by the customer. Thecustomer account may be identified based on a separator record. Theseparator record may be associated with the uncollected cash. Thecustomer account may be included in the separator record.

The ATM may identify a customer request. The request may be a requestfor an amount of funds. The request may be associated with a transactionidentifier. The transaction identifier may be included in a separatorrecord.

The methods may include debiting a customer account. The debit maycorrespond to a difference between an amount of funds collected by thecustomer and a value of funds retracted by an ATM. The value of fundsretracted by the ATM may be determined by examining one or more tangibleitems stored in a partition of a purge-bin. The partition may beassociated with the customer account based on a separator record linkedto a separator tab defining the partition.

The methods may include receiving a claim. The claim may be received bya computer system. The claim may be submitted by a customer. The claimmay be a mis-dispense claim. The mis-dispense claim may allege that aSSK, such as an ATM, did not dispense an amount of cash requested by thecustomer. The claim may include a request for a refund amount.

The methods may include approving the refund amount. The methods mayinclude denying the refund amount. The refund amount may be approved ordenied based on a value of retracted cash stored in a partition of thepurge-bin. The value of the retracted cash stored in the partition maybe associated, based on a separator tab defining the partition, to aseparator record. The separator record may include information thatidentifies a customer or customer account. The customer and/or customeraccount may be associated with the value of the retracted cash stored inthe partition.

If the requested refund amount is greater than the value of theretracted cash stored in the partition, the refund amount may be denied.If the requested refund amount is less than or equal to the value of theretracted cash stored in the partition, the refund amount may beapproved. If the refund amount is greater than or equal to the value ofthe retracted cash stored in the partition, an entity responsible formaintaining the customer account may credit the value of the retractedcash stored in the partition to the customer account. Without areceiving a request for a refund amount, the value of the retracted cashstored in the partition may be credited to the customer account.

Methods may include storing a plurality of retracted bills. Theretracted bills may be stored in a purge-bin. The plurality of retractedbills may be enveloped in shrink wrap. Transaction information may beprinted on the shrink wrap. The transaction information may link theretracted bills to a customer or account. The shrink wrapped bills maybe stored in a purge-bin.

A separator may include a sleeve. The ATM may insert a plurality ofretracted bills into the sleeve. The ATM may store the plurality ofbills in the sleeve. The sleeve, including the retracted bills, may bestored in a purge-bin. Transaction information may be printed on thesleeve. The transaction information may link the retracted bills to acustomer or account.

Illustrative embodiments of apparatus and methods in accordance with theprinciples of the invention will now be described with reference to theaccompanying drawings, which form a part hereof. It is to be understoodthat other embodiments may be utilized and structural, functional andprocedural modifications may be made without departing from the scopeand spirit of the present invention.

As will be appreciated by one of skill in the art, the inventiondescribed herein may be embodied in whole or in part as a method, a dataprocessing system, or a computer program product. Accordingly, theinvention may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, anentirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software,hardware and any other suitable approach or apparatus.

Furthermore, such aspects may take the form of a computer programproduct stored by one or more computer-readable storage media havingcomputer-readable program code, or instructions, embodied in or on thestorage media. Any suitable computer readable storage media may beutilized, including hard disks, CD-ROMs, optical storage devices,magnetic storage devices, and/or any combination thereof. In addition,various signals representing data or events as described herein may betransferred between a source and a destination in the form ofelectromagnetic waves traveling through signal-conducting media such asmetal wires, optical fibers, and/or wireless transmission media (e.g.,air and/or space).

FIG. 1 shows illustrative self-service device 100. Self-service device100 may be an ATM. Self-service device 100 may include monitor 102,keypad 104, card reader port 106, acceptor 108, item dispenser 110 andsecurity screen 112.

Monitor 102 may exchange visual and or audio information with acustomer. Keypad 104 may include alphanumeric keys 114 for the customerto enter numerical and textual data. Keypad 104 may include control keys116. In some embodiments, control keys 116 may be used to communicatecontrol information, such as instructions, to self-service device 100.Keypad 104 may include soft keys 118. Soft keys 118 may have functionsthat are dictated by programming and are presented to the customer usinginformation that may be displayed on monitor 102.

Card reader port 106 may be the front end of any suitable card reader.The card reader may read magnetically encoded information on transactioninstruments such as bank cards. In some embodiments (not shown),self-service device 100 may include a contactless chip reader, awireless transceiver or any other suitable interface for exchangingtransaction information with a transaction instrument. The transactioninstrument may be a chip, an RFID tag, a smart card, a PDA, a telephoneor any other suitable device.

In some embodiments, self-service device 100 may include a biometricsensor (not shown). The biometric sensor may identify a customer basedon a feature, such as an anatomical feature, of the customer. Forexample, the biometric sensor may be configured to identify the customerbased on all or part of a face, a fingerprint, an iris, a retina, a handor any other suitable anatomical feature. The biometric sensor mayidentify the customer based on a behavioral feature such as a signature,a voice, a gait or any other suitable behavioral feature.

Acceptor 108 may accept any suitable tangible item. For example,acceptor 108 may accept envelopes, deposit forms, bills, checks or anyother suitable documents. In some embodiments, acceptor 108 may feed atangible item into a scanner that digitizes the tangible item forimage-based transaction processing.

Item dispenser 110 may dispense tangible items. For example, itemdispenser 110 may dispense bills.

Security screen 112 may visually screen a surveillance device (notshown). The surveillance device may provide video information aboutindividuals that are present near the self-service device. Thesurveillance device may provide video information about conditions nearthe self-service device.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram that illustrates a computing device 201(alternatively referred to herein as a “server”) that may be usedaccording to an illustrative embodiment of the invention. The computerserver 201 may have a processor 203 for controlling overall operation ofthe server and its associated components, including RAM 205, ROM 207,input/output (“I/O”) module 209, and memory 215.

I/O module 209 may include a microphone, keypad, touch screen and/orstylus through which a user of device 201 may provide input, and mayalso include one or more of a speaker for providing audio output and avideo display device for providing textual, audiovisual and/or graphicaloutput. Software may be stored within memory 215 and/or other storage(not shown) to provide instructions to processor 203 for enabling server201 to perform various functions. For example, memory 215 may storesoftware used by server 201, such as an operating system 217,application programs 219, and an associated database 211. Alternatively,some or all of server 201 computer executable instructions may beembodied in hardware or firmware (not shown).

Server 201 may operate in a networked environment supporting connectionsto one or more remote computers, such as terminals 241 and 251.Terminals 241 and 251 may be personal computers or servers that includemany or all of the elements described above relative to server 201. Thenetwork connections depicted in FIG. 2 include a local area network(LAN) 225 and a wide area network (WAN) 229, but may also include othernetworks. When used in a LAN networking environment, computer 201 isconnected to LAN 225 through a network interface or adapter 213. Whenused in a WAN networking environment, server 201 may include a modem 227or other means for establishing communications over WAN 229, such asInternet 231.

It will be appreciated that the network connections shown areillustrative and other means of establishing a communications linkbetween the computers may be used. The existence of any of variouswell-known protocols such as TCP/IP, Ethernet, FTP, HTTP and the like ispresumed, and the system can be operated in a client-serverconfiguration to permit a user to retrieve web pages from a web-basedserver. Any of various conventional web browsers can be used to displayand manipulate data on web pages.

Additionally, application program 219, which may be used by server 201,may include computer executable instructions for invoking userfunctionality related to communication, such as email, short messageservice (SMS), and voice input and speech recognition applications.

Computing device 201 and/or terminals 241 or 251 may also be mobileterminals including various other components, such as a battery,speaker, and antennas (not shown). Terminal 251 and/or terminal 241 maybe portable devices such as a laptop, tablet, smartphone or any othersuitable device for storing, transmitting and/or transporting relevantinformation.

Any information described above in connection with database 211, and anyother suitable information, may be stored in memory 215. One or more ofapplications 219 may include one or more algorithms that may be used totransfer a tangible item, examine a tangible item, determinerelationship between transactions, release separator tabs, resetseparator tabs, identify related SSK actions, control rotation of apurge-bin and/or any other suitable tasks.

The invention may be operational with numerous other general purpose orspecial purpose computing system environments or configurations.Examples of well-known computing systems, environments, and/orconfigurations that may be suitable for use with the invention include,but are not limited to, personal computers, server computers, hand-heldor laptop devices, tablets, mobile phones and/or other personal digitalassistants (“PDAs”), multiprocessor systems, microprocessor-basedsystems, set top boxes, programmable consumer electronics, network PCs,minicomputers, mainframe computers, distributed computing environmentsthat include any of the above systems or devices, and the like.

The invention may be described in the general context ofcomputer-executable instructions, such as program modules, beingexecuted by a computer. Generally, program modules include routines,programs, objects, components, data structures, etc. that performparticular tasks or implement particular abstract data types. Theinvention may also be practiced in distributed computing environmentswhere tasks are performed by remote processing devices that are linkedthrough a communications network. In a distributed computingenvironment, program modules may be located in both local and remotecomputer storage media including memory storage devices.

FIG. 3 shows illustrative arrangement 300. Arrangement 300 includesstack 301. Stack 301 may include one or more tangible items. Stack 301may include a plurality of tangible items. Stack 301 may include cash.Stack 301 may include cash retracted by an ATM.

Stack 301 may be retracted after a dispensing. For example, in responseto a customer request for five bills, an ATM may dispense five bills.The customer may collect four bills. One bill may be retracted by theATM.

Stack 301 may be stored in a purge-bin (not shown). Separator 307 ispositioned adjacent to stack 301. Separator 307 may be positionedadjacent to stack 301 in a purge-bin. Separator 307 may be formed frompaper, cardboard, metal or any other suitable material.

Separator 307 may include transaction information. The transactioninformation may be associated with the tangible items included in stack301. For example, the transaction information may be associated with aretraction and/or dispensing of the tangible items included in stack301. The transaction information may be marked on separator 307.Separator 307 may include transaction information encoded in a bar code,quick response (“QR”) code or other machine readable information (notshown).

For example, transaction information marked on separator 307 includestransaction identifier “455677”, ATM identifier “8988w74289,”transaction time “13:56:08” and transaction date “16 Apr. 13.” Based onthe transaction information, the tangible items included in stack 301may be associated with an action performed by a SSK, a customer or anaccount.

Arrangement 300 includes stack 303. Stack 303 is positioned adjacent toseparator 305. Stack 303 may include one or more features of stack 301.Separator 305 may include one or more features of separator 307. Stack303 may include retracted cash. Stack 303 may be transferred from adispenser to a purge-bin. Stack 303 may be transferred using a feedernetwork of a SSK. Stack 303 may be stored in the purge-bin.

Stack 303 and separator 305 may be positioned in a purge-bin following apositioning of stack 301 and separator 307. In the purge-bin, stack 303and separator 305 may be positioned above stack 301 and separator 307.

Separator 307 may be placed on top of stack 301. Stack 301 may be placedon top of separator 307. Stack 303 and separator 305 may be positionedin any suitable arrangement. Separator 305 may be placed on top of stack303. Separator 305 and stack 303 may be positioned in any suitablearrangement.

FIG. 4 shows illustrative apparatus 400. Apparatus 400 may include acontrol system for controlling a self-service kiosk (“SSK”) such as anATM or self-service device 100 (shown in FIG. 1).

Apparatus 400 may be controlled by CPU 402. CPU 402 may include one ormore features of server 201 (shown in FIG. 2). CPU 402 may exchangeinformation with electronic communication network N via modem 404 androuter R. The information may include transaction information.

CPU 402 may receive information from a customer via monitor 406, keypad408, card reader 410, acceptor 412 or item dispenser 414. Theinformation received from the customer may be included in a separatorrecord.

CPU 402 may instruct a SSK to dispense bills through item dispenser 414.CPU 402 may instruct item dispenser 414 to retract any currencyremaining in item dispenser 414 after expiration of a time-out period.

CPU 402 may receive a request to deposit bills. CPU 402 may transmitinformation to acceptor 412 instructing acceptor 412 to accept one ormore tangible items inserted into acceptor 412.

CPU 402 may direct a transfer of retracted bills to purge-bin 416. CPU402 may instruct purge-bin 416 to rotate prior to receiving theretracted bills. CPU 402 may issue an instruction directing a release ofa separator tab (not shown) in purge-bin 416. CPU 402 may control atiming of the release of the separator tab. For example, CPU 402 mayensure that the release of the separator tab occurs after retractedbills are positioned in purge-bin 416.

CPU 402 may control an extraction of a separator (shown in FIG. 3) fromseparator stack 418. Purge-bin 416 may transmit a request for aseparator to CPU 402. CPU 402 may control a transfer of the separatorfrom separator stack 418 to purge-bin 416.

CPU 402 may control a transfer of a tangible item using feeder network402. CPU 402 may control feeder network 420. Feeder network 420 may linkacceptor 412, dispenser 414, purge-bin 416 and separator stack 418.Feeder network 420 may include rollers, belts, tracks, pickers or anysuitable components.

CPU 402 may log information received from one or more components ofapparatus 400. CPU 402 may transmit information received from one ormore components of apparatus 400 to electronic communication network Nusing modem 404 and router R.

For example, retraction log 422 may record information associated with aretraction. Retraction log 422 may record a time of a retraction, an ATMsession ID, credentials used to initiate the ATM session, an amount ofcash requested by a customer, a customer account or any suitableinformation. CPU 402 may control a recording of the retractioninformation.

CPU 402 may generate a separator record. The separator record mayinclude actions performed one or more components of apparatus 400. Theseparator record may include communications between on or morecomponents of apparatus 400. The separator record may include anysuitable information associated with a retraction. CPU 402 may identifysuitable information associated with the retraction. The separatorrecord may be stored in retraction log 422.

CPU 402 may control a printing of transaction information on a separatorusing printer 426. CPU 402 may instruct printer 426 to print informationreceived from one or more components of apparatus 400. CPU 402 mayinstruct printer 426 to print information recorded in retraction log422.

FIG. 5 shows illustrative arrangement 500. Arrangement 500 includespurge-bin 501. Purge-bin 501 may include one or more features ofpurge-bin 416 (shown in FIG. 4). Purge-bin 501 includes first billreceiving section 503. First bill receiving section 503 may store bills507. Purge-bin 501 includes second bill receiving section 509. Secondbill receiving section 509 may store bills 505.

First bill receiving section 503 may be oriented perpendicular to secondbill receiving section 509. Purge-bin 501 may include three or more billreceiving sections. A bill receiving section may store a stack oftangible items such as stacks 301 and 303 (shown in FIG. 3). The firstbill receiving section may store a first stack. The second billreceiving section may store a second stack. The first and second stacksmay be stored perpendicular to each other. Storing the first and secondstacks perpendicular to each may collate the first and second stacks.

Purge-bin 501 may be configured to rotate about axis Z. Rotation ofpurge-bin 501 may align a bill receiving section with a feeder network,such as feeder network 420 (shown in FIG. 4). The feeder network mayinsert a bill into a bill receiving section of purge-bin 501. Purge-bin501 may be rotated each time cash is retracted by a dispenser, such asdispenser 110 (shown in FIG. 1) or dispenser 414 (shown in FIG. 4).Rotating purge-bin 501 prior to storing retracted cash may separate cashfrom each retraction. Each rotation may be logged in retraction log 422(shown in FIG. 4). Retraction log 422 may record transaction informationassociated with the retraction.

Purge-bin 501 may be removed from a SSK. Cash stored in purge-bin 501may be extracted and examined. Results of the examination may becorrelated to an entry in retraction log 422. Based on the correlating,a value of retracted cash may be associated with a customer, a customeraccount, a time/date, a location, a transaction identifier or anysuitable transaction information.

FIG. 6 shows illustrative arrangement 600. Arrangement 600 includesstack 601 and stack 605. Stack 601 may be positioned adjacent toseparator 603. Separator 603 includes illustrative transactioninformation such as transaction identifier “1234242345,” ATM session ID“3423-4534,” and time/date “23:45:55.” The ATM session ID may link aplurality of transaction identifiers to the ATM session. The pluralityof transaction identifiers may correspond to actions performed by theATM during the ATM session.

Stack 605 may be positioned adjacent to separator 607. Stack 601 andseparator 603 are positioned perpendicular to stack 605 and separator607. Stack 601 and separator 603 may be positioned in first billreceiving section 503 (shown in FIG. 5). Stack 605 and separator 607 maybe positioned in second bill receiving section 509 (shown in FIG. 5).

FIG. 7 shows a top-down view of purge-bin 700. Purge-bin 700 includeshousing wall 701.

Purge-bin 700 may store stacks 703, 715 and 705. Each of stacks 703, 715and 705 may include a plurality of tangible items. Each of stacks 703,715 and 705 may include a plurality of tangible items retracted by adispenser of a SSK.

Stack 703 may be positioned within housing 701 by separator tabs 709 and707. Separator tabs 709 and 707 may define a first partition. The firstpartition may separate stack 703 from stack 715. Stack 703 may beassociated with first transaction information. Stack 715 may beassociated with second transaction information.

Stack 715 may be positioned within purge-bin 700 by separator tabs 711and 713. Separator tabs 711 and 713 may define a second partition. Thesecond partition may separate stack 715 from stack 705. The secondpartition may separate stack 715 from stack 703. Stack 715 may beassociated with second transaction information. Stack 705 may beassociated with third transaction information.

A release of separator tabs 709 and 707 may be recorded in a separatorrecord stored in retraction log 422 (shown in FIG. 4). The separatorrecord may include the first transaction information associated with theretraction of stack 703.

When stacks 703, 715 and 705 are removed from purge-bin 700, each ofstacks 703, 715 and 705 may be examined. A result of the examination ofeach stack may be recorded in the separator record corresponding to eachstack. The result of the examination may include a value of the stack, adenomination of each bill in the stack or any suitable attribute of thestack.

For example, cash stack 703 may be inserted into purge-bin 700.Separator tabs 707 and 709 may close adjacent to cash stack 703.Separator tabs 707 and 709 may close upon the detection of cash inpurge-bin 700. A partition within purge-bin 700 may be a predeterminedlocation for the storage of cash.

Prior to an insertion of stack 703 in purge-bin 700, separator tabs 709and 707 may be positioned substantially parallel to housing wall 701.Prior to storing of stack 703 in purge-bin 700, separator tabs 709 and707 may be positioned at angle less than ninety degrees from a portionof housing wall 701. After the insertion of stack 703 into purge-bin700, separator tabs 707 and 709 may rotate to a position substantiallyperpendicular to housing wall 701. Upon release of a latch (not shown) abiasing member (not shown) may rotate separator tabs 707 and 709 abouthinges 721 and 719.

Purge-bin 700 may include compactor 717. Compactor 717 may beextendable. Compactor 717 may be configured to exert pressure on astack. Compactor 717 may be configured to exert pressure on a separatortab.

For example, compactor 717 may exert pressure on stack 703. Compactor717 may push stack 703 against a wall of purge-bin 700. Compactor 717may exert pressure on separator tabs 709 and 707. For example, compactor717 may push stack 715 within purge-bin 700. Push the stack 715 maycompress separator tab 707 against housing wall 701. The compression ofseparator tab 707 against housing wall 701 may trigger a release ofseparator tabs 709 and 707.

Separator tabs 709 and 707 may translate within purge-bin 700 inresponse to pressure exerted by compactor 717. For example, separatortab 707 may be configured to translate along a length of housing wall701. Pressure exerted by compactor 717 may push a stack against a sideof purge-bin 700. Pressure exerted by compactor 717 may prevent aninefficient use of storage space within purge-bin 700.

FIG. 8 shows illustrative process 800. For the sake of illustration, thesteps of the process illustrated in FIG. 8 will be described as beingperformed by a “system.” The “system” may include one or more of thefeatures of the apparatus that are shown in FIGS. 1-7 and/or any othersuitable device or approach. The “system” may be provided by an entity.The entity may be an individual, an organization or any other suitableentity.

At step 801, the system retracts a plurality of bills. The bills mayhave been dispensed to an ATM customer. The system may retract billsthat were not collected by the customer. At step 803, the systemtransfers the plurality of retracted bills. The bills are transferred toa purge-bin. The bills may be transferred to the purge-bin by anysuitable means. For example, a feeder network may be used to transportthe retracted bills from the dispenser to the purge-bin.

At step 805, the system retrieves a separator. The separator isretrieved from a separator stack. The separator stack may store one ormore separators. At step 807, the system prints transaction informationon the separator. The transaction information may include any suitableinformation. The transaction information may include information thatassociates the retracted bills with a transaction and/or customer.

At step 809, the system transfers the separator to the purge-bin. Afeeder network within a SSK may transfer the separator from theseparator stack to the purge-bin. At step 811, the system positions theseparator adjacent to the plurality of retracted bills. A position ofthe separator with respect to the plurality of retracted bills mayassociate the separator with the retracted bills.

At step 813, the purge-bin may be removed from an SSK, such as an ATM.Armored personnel and services may be employed to remove the purge-bin.At step 815, bills stored in the purge-bin are extracted from thepurge-bin. At step 817, the system examines the bills extracted from thepurge-bin. The examination may determine one or more denominations ofeach bill extracted from the purge-bin. The system may determine a countof the plurality of bills. The plurality may correspond to a stack ofbills such as stacks 303 and 301 (shown in FIG. 3), stacks 509 and 507(shown in FIG. 5) or stacks 601 and 605 (shown in FIG. 6). Thedenomination and a count may be determined for each stack of billsstored in the purge-bin.

At step 819, the system associates the denomination with the transactioninformation recorded on the separator. The system may associate thecount with the transaction information. The transaction information maybe the transaction information that was recorded on the separatorpositioned adjacent to the plurality of bills within the purge-bin. Theseparator may be associated with the bills based on a position, in thepurge-bin, of the separator relative to the bills.

FIG. 9 shows illustrative process 900. For the sake of illustration, thesteps of the process illustrated in FIG. 9 will be described as beingperformed by a “system.” The “system” may include one or more of thefeatures of the apparatus or approach that are shown in FIGS. 1-8 and/orany other suitable device or approach. The “system” may be provided byan entity. The entity may be an individual, an organization or any othersuitable entity.

At step 901, the system retracts a first plurality of bills. Prior tothe retracting, the bills may have been dispensed to a first ATMcustomer. The first plurality of bills may be bills that remaineduncollected by the first customer. At step 903, the system transfers thefirst plurality of bills to a purge-bin. A feeder network within the ATMmay transfer the first plurality of bills to the purge-bin. The feedernetwork may include rollers, belts, tracks, pickers or any suitablecomponents.

At step 905, the system retracts a second plurality of bills. Prior tothe retracting, the second plurality may have been dispensed to a secondATM customer. The second plurality of bills may be bills that remaineduncollected by the second customer.

At step 907, the system logs retraction information corresponding to theretraction of the first plurality of bills. The retraction informationmay include a number of bills dispensed, a number of bills retracted, amonetary value of bills dispensed, a time of the transaction, a date ofthe transaction and/or a transaction identifier.

At step 909, the system rotates the purge-bin ninety degrees. Thepurge-bin may be rotated using mechanical, magnetic and/or electricalforce. Rotating the purge-bin may align a bill receiving feature of thepurge-bin with a feeder network. Rotating the purge-bin may select abill receiving section of the purge-bin to receive the retracted bills.At step 911, the system transfers the second plurality of bills to thepurge-bin. The bills may be transferred by any suitable means. Thesecond bills may be transferred using a feeder network.

At step 913, the system logs retraction information corresponding to theretraction of the second plurality of bills. At step 915, the purge-binis removed from the ATM. Armored personnel and services may be employedto remove the purge-bin. At step 916, the system determines one or moredenominations of bills included in the first plurality of bills. Forexample, the system may determine that the first plurality includesthree twenty-dollar bills and two ten-dollar bills.

The system may determine a count of the number of bills. For example,the system may determine that there were three bills retracted. Thesystem may identify a tangible item extracted from the purge-bin. Forexample, the system may determine that the tangible item is a separator.

At step 917, the system associates the denomination and count of thefirst plurality of bills with the retraction information logged at step907. The denomination and count corresponding to the first plurality ofbills may be recorded in a retraction log such as retraction log 422(shown in FIG. 4). Associating the denomination and count with theretraction information logged at step 907 may allow the system toidentify the first customer. Associating the denomination and count withthe retraction information logged at step 907 may allow the system toassociate one or more actions performed by the ATM with the firstplurality of retracted bills.

At step 919, the system determines one or more denominations of thesecond plurality of bills. The system may determine a count of thesecond plurality of bills. The system may determine the type of notesretracted. At step 921, the system associates the denomination and countof the second plurality of bills with the retraction information loggedat step 913. The denomination and count of the second plurality of billsmay be recorded in a retraction log such as retraction log 422 (shown inFIG. 4). Associating the denomination and count with the retractioninformation logged at step 913 may allow the system to identify thesecond customer. Associating the denomination and count with theretraction information logged at step 913 may allow the system toassociate one or more actions performed by the ATM with the secondplurality of retracted bills.

FIG. 10 shows illustrative process 1000. For the sake of illustration,the steps of the process illustrated in FIG. 10 will be described asbeing performed by a “system.” The “system” may include one or more ofthe features of the apparatus or approach that are shown in FIGS. 1-9and/or any other suitable device or approach. The “system” may beprovided by an entity. The entity may be an individual, an organizationor any other suitable entity.

At step 1002, the system retracts a plurality of bills. At step 1004,the system transfers the plurality of bills retracted in step 1002. Thebills may be transferred to a purge-bin such as purge-bin 700 (shown inFIG. 7). The bills may be transferred using a feeder network.

At step 1006, the system releases a separator tab inside the purge-bin.The separator tab may be released in response to receiving an electronicsignal from a control system such as apparatus 400 (shown in FIG. 4). Atstep 1008, the system increments a separator tab counter. The separatortab counter may be incremented each time a separator tab is releasedinside the purge-bin.

At step 1010, the system logs retraction information. For example, thesystem may log the separator tab count. At step 1012, the system mayremove the plurality of bills from the purge-bin. At step 1014, thesystem may reset the separator tab. At step 1016, the system maydetermine one or more denominations of the plurality of bills. The oneor more denominations of the plurality of bills may be associated withthe reset separator tab. The system may determine the count of theplurality of bills. The count of the plurality of bills may beassociated with the reset separator tab.

At step 1018, the system associates the denomination and count of thebills with the retraction information logged at step 1010. Theretraction information may identify a customer and customer account. Theretraction information may identify one or more transactions or actionperformed by a SSK. Associating the denomination and count of the billswith the retraction information may identify a customer or accountassociated with the retracted plurality of bills. Associating thedenomination and count of the bills with the retraction information mayidentify a value of bills collected by a customer during an ATM session.

One of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that the steps shownand described herein may be performed in other than the recited orderand that one or more steps illustrated may be optional. The methods ofthe above-referenced embodiments may involve the use of any suitableelements, steps, computer-executable instructions, or computer-readabledata structures. In this regard, other embodiments are disclosed hereinas well that can be partially or wholly implemented on acomputer-readable medium, for example, by storing computer-executableinstructions or modules or by utilizing computer-readable datastructures.

Thus, apparatus and methods for a stacking purge-bin have been provided.Persons skilled in the art will appreciate that the present inventioncan be practiced by other than the described embodiments, which arepresented for purposes of illustration rather than of limitation. Thepresent invention is limited only by the claims that follow.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method for stacking items in a purge-bin, themethod comprising: retracting a plurality of bills dispensed from anautomated teller machine (“ATM”); transferring the plurality of bills toa purge-bin of the ATM using a feeder network of the ATM; generating aseparator; transferring the separator to the purge-bin; storing theplurality of bills in the purge-bin; inserting the separator above theplurality of bills; and after the storing, rotating the purge-bin, aboutan axis normal to a face of the plurality of bills, to a positionrelative to the feeder network.
 2. The method of claim 1, the generatingcomprising: correlating: a time and date of the retracting; and atransaction identifier associated with a dispensing of the plurality ofbills; and printing the date, time and transaction identifier on theseparator.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein, when the plurality of billsis a first plurality of bills, the position is a first position and theseparator is a first separator, the method further comprises: retractinga second plurality of bills dispensed from the ATM; transferring thesecond plurality of bills to the purge-bin; rotating the purge-bin aboutthe axis to a second position with respect to the feeder network;storing the second plurality of bills on top of the first separator; andinserting a second separator on top of the second plurality of bills. 4.The method of claim 3 further comprising positioning the secondplurality of bills perpendicular to the first plurality of bills.
 5. Themethod of claim 4 wherein moving the purge-bin does not disturb thepositioning of the first plurality of bills relative to the secondplurality of bills.
 6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:coupling the purge-bin to a validator; feeding contents of the purge-bininto the validator; and determining a value of the plurality of billsbelow the separator.
 7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:generating a fraud record based on: the value; and a transactionidentifier printed on the separator.
 8. The method of claim 7 furthercomprising transmitting the fraud record to a financial institution inresponse to a mis-dispense claim received from the customer.
 9. A methodfor stacking, in a purge-bin having a floor, a bill dispensed from anautomated teller machine (“ATM”), the method comprising: retracting thebill; transferring the bill to the purge-bin using a feeder network ofthe ATM; storing the bill in the purge-bin; and rotating the purge-bin,about an axis normal to the floor, to a position relative to the feedernetwork.
 10. The method of claim 9, further comprising: correlating: atime and date of the retracting; and a transaction identifier associatedwith a dispensing of the bill; and printing the date, time andtransaction identifier on a separator.
 11. The method of claim 9wherein, when the bill is a first bill and the position is a firstposition, the method further comprises: transferring a first separatorto the purge-bin; positioning the first separator above the first bill;retracting a second bill dispensed from the ATM; transferring the secondbill to the purge-bin; storing the second bill above the firstseparator; rotating the purge-bin about the axis to a second positionwith respect to the feeder network; and positioning a second separatorabove the second bill.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprisingpositioning the second bill perpendicular to the first bill.
 13. Themethod of claim 12 wherein moving the purge-bin does not disturb thepositioning of the first bill relative to the second bill.
 14. Themethod of claim 11 further comprising: coupling the purge-bin to avalidator; feeding contents of the purge-bin into the validator; anddetermining a value of the bill below the separator.
 15. The method ofclaim 14 further comprising: generating a fraud record based on: thevalue; and the transaction identifier printed on the separator.
 16. Themethod of claim 15 further comprising transmitting the fraud record to afinancial institution in response to a mis-dispense claim received fromthe customer.
 17. A method for stacking items in a purge-bin of anautomated teller machine (“ATM”), the method comprising: retracting afirst bill dispensed from the ATM; transferring the first bill to thepurge-bin using a feeder network of the ATM; storing the first bill inthe purge-bin; rotating the purge-bin, about an axis normal to a face ofthe bill, to a first position relative to the feeder network; retractinga second bill dispensed from the ATM; transferring the second bill tothe purge-bin; and positioning the second bill above and perpendicularto the first bill.
 18. The method of claim 17, further comprising:generating a separator; transferring the separator to the purge-bin;positioning the separator above the first bill; correlating: a time anddate of the retracting; and a transaction identifier associated with adispensing of the first bill; and printing the date, time andtransaction identifier on the separator.
 19. The method of claim 17wherein moving the purge-bin does not disturb the positioning of thefirst bill relative to the second bill.
 20. The method of claim 17further comprising: coupling the purge-bin to a validator; feedingcontents of the purge-bin into the validator; and determining a value ofthe bill below the separator.